Dear UAH,
Iam one of the people who have closely been following the students concerns at Makerere University.I have realised that the students cause hold water but the problem is their organisation and greed with in their circles. Foristance, when when they met Hon Rukutana, the representation was only from Makerere University as opposed to all public Universities’ representatives! The few students leaders who were present told us that they suspect money to have changed hands. Some accused the Speaker and others accused the guild president.
When they were going to meet the minister, one must have seen how the student leaders were disorganized! They first agreed to walk to the Ministry from the University. All of a sudden a few led by Sewino, the campus affairs decided to bodabodas because it was getting late to meet the Minister. This did not amuse a few students in my view who were right because if the were going to meet he minister, then why go in groups?
When we reached the ministry, the first people to chase were the press. Next the campus affairs minister came down( remember, when he reached the ministry, he was allowed to enter the ministry offices with the few he had gone with!). With the help of the security officers, he read the names of the leaders whom he thought would represent the others! About four or five were left behind with the journalists that the students had invited.
To my surprise and that of my fellow journalists, the long awaited meeting with the Minister did not take more than 10 minutes.They all came in a funny mood! When we asked them what had transpired, one of them told us’nothing much’. When they recovered from their shock, they adressed us and the only message they had for us was that the minister told them to wait for a statement which he would issue later that day! Another bad thing they told us was how the ministers delegation treated the students that had gone to meet him. When they reached there, they grouped them ie freshers versus continuing students. Surprisingly, there was no fresher! Then the next question the minister was; ‘why are you here since you are not freshers?’
It is from here that some of the students told us how some of their leaders had chewed something.
Vincent Nuwagaba said,
October 29, 2009 at 2:43 pm
The tuiion increment matter is not a preserve of students leaders. It is a matter of national concern and all Ugandans without exception should make strenuous efforts to ensure that it is properly tackled. Museveni and his courtiers have sold this country and they know the only way through which they can hold onto power is blocking those that are intelligent but not politically close to them from succeeding either intellectually or financially because then it will not be easy to cow them into submission. Personally, I don’t have money but I proudly tell everyone including the president that I have a rich mental faculty. I have written a petition which I delivered to the Speaker and a letter to the president whose copy I sent to the press and was published by the African Executive under the title,”Makerere: A University for the Rich? which can be accessed at http://www.africanexecutive.com/modules/magazine/articles.php?article=4579. A related article was published by the Independent Magazine under the title, Makerere varsity fees hike points to moral downturn available at http://independent.co.ug/index.php/column/guest-column/68-guest-column/1547-makerere-varsity-fees-hike-points-to-moral-downturn . All we need to do is to prevail on all the members of parliament to reverse this decision and prevail on government to increase funding to the public universities. I have heard many people trying to give elitist arguments that in many countries higher education is very expensive. Granted. What is the economy of those countries vis-a-vis Uganda’s economy.
Some other unserious people have argued that hiking fees helps to curb the number of university graduates as if the cause of our underdevelopment is attributed to huge numbers of university graduates. We need very many university graduates than one can imagine because less than one per cent of our population has university degrees. The major cause of our poor performance is patronage and clientelism which Museveni’s government has embraced. Meritocracy has totally been abandoned and because of that whoever gets a job aims at self-aggrandisement. I have boldly told the government functionaries and written letters to the president. Ironically, instead of addressing the issues raised, the government has opted to harrass me and I am sure they are determined to hound me out of this country or kill me. I am nonetheless intrepid and I know if I died under any unclear circumstances very many people will know the cause. I am surely on the frontline and I am not ready to capitulate until success is attained. Nonetheless I call upon all of you to join me in the struggle. By so-doing, we shall overwhelm the agents of exploitation, oppression and repression who ironically are paid by the tax payers’ money to protect us but choose to brutalise us. We must kick out all Members of Parliament who hobnob with the exploiters and those who exploit the common man. We must be seen to promote the common good. Accordingly, we must strive to ensure that the underprivileged have access to higher education.
Let’s build for the future as Makerere University Motto states. As for me I am available to become a voice of the voiceless. I beg that you support my pariamentary bid in Ruhinda County come 2011. For God and My country!
Vincent Nuwagaba is a political scientist and a holder of Master in human rights from Makerere but also a first year student doing Bachelor of Laws